"America's Toughest Sheriff"
Heard a piece on NPR this AM about the “parade of criminals” hosted by Sheriff Joseph Arpaio, Maricopa County (Phoenix) AZ . The four term Sheriff doesn’t pull any punches with his inmates (which is irritating to some). I think ere long his practices are a serious deterrant & discourage recidivism. Among other things he runs a tent city outside of town where 2K prisoners get to experience the great outdoors. His indoor charges have it not a lot better. The County website states:
…he banned smoking, coffee, movies, pornographic magazines, and unrestricted TV in all jails. He has the cheapest meals in the U.S. too. The average meal costs about 15 cents, and inmates are fed only twice daily, to cut the labor costs of meal delivery. He even stopped serving them salt and pepper to save tax payers $20,000 a year.
Wow this is really cool. Being locked up is no vacation in Maricopa County! The site goes on to explain (and this is my absolute favorite):
Another program Arpaio is very wellknown for is the pink under shorts he makes all inmates wear. Years ago, when the Sheriff learned that inmates were stealing jailhouse white boxers, Arpaio had all inmate underwear dyed pink for better inventory control. The same is true for the Sheriff’s handcuffs. When they started disappearing, he ordered pink handcuffs as a replacement. And later, when the Sheriff learned the calming, psychological effects of the color pink—sheets, towels, socks— everything inmates wear, except for the old-fashioned black and white striped uniform, were dyed pink.
Sounds like he’s got a handle on things over there in the desert.
The only thing I’m left wondering is if the 2003 Disney film “Holes” isn’t somehow related (If you haven’t seen Holes you should). Although the answer seems to be a resounding “no” hearing the story about Sheriff Arpaio’s parade makes me want to see holes again. My favorite line from the movie (quite possibly my favorite movie line all time):
Mr Sir: “You girl scouts want to hear a story. Once apon a time there was a magical place that never rained… The end.”
Those Colors Don't Clash at All!
SitRep II 